In the mid- to late 1800s, a "conspiracy of good" permeated the streets of Columbia as citizens helped freedom seekers navigate the Underground Railroad. William Wright, one of the town founders and a fervent abolitionist, is often credited with helping to establish the path to freedom for people escaping slavery. Now a group of people is working to bring history to life through the Underground Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

The project launched in December, with a tentative opening date set for the end of 2026.

"Antebellum Columbia wasn't a perfect place," said Mark Stewart, a member of the Underground Railroad Center of Columbia (URCC), a nonprofit organization spearheading the project. "Far from it. But it was the place where people made a stand, often at extreme personal risk, and said, 'This stops here.' Those individuals committed to an ideal and did the right thing during one of the bleakest times in our nation's history. To me, that is a story worth telling."

The museum will be located at 331 Locust St., in a building constructed in 1900 that originally housed a Woolworth's on the first floor and a Masonic hall upstairs. The 8,000-square-foot attraction will feature informative and interactive exhibits that tell the story of the people who worked to help freedom seekers.

Although plans are just getting underway for the museum, Stewart has high hopes. He envisions the first floor full of exhibits telling the story of Underground Railroad activity throughout Pennsylvania. Upstairs, he hopes the museum will feature the stories of people who supported the effort and will showcase what it was like to live in Columbia in the 1800s.

Traditional museum exhibits will be interspersed with high-tech, interactive features that combine artificial intelligence and 3D holography to bring Columbia characters to life.

Telling these stories will require some artistic liberties, Stewart said, noting that much of the history of the Underground Railroad was not written down.

Stewart, who moved to Columbia in 2021 with his wife, Sarah, is particularly invested in the project. His background includes museum work, and he is living in the home built by William Wright in 1795. Thousands of freedom seekers came through his house and sat in his living room, ready to start their new lives.

He said he was familiar with Columbia and some of its history before moving to the area, but he's learned more about how invested the town was in helping others.

"What I did not know is how involved the people of Columbia were," he shared. "They were all-in on this."

He envisions the museum as a place to pay homage to the people who played major roles in an important part of American history, and he hopes the site will be an economic boom for Columbia.

"I think about the people who sat in my living room and probably had a moment where they thought, 'I made it.' We want to capture that emotional moment in this museum," Stewart said. "When people walk out of this museum, I want them to tell everybody they know, 'You won't believe what I just saw.'"

As work gets underway on the museum, the URCC has launched a social media initiative called "Today in Underground Railroad History." To learn more, search for "The Underground Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania" on Facebook or visit https://columbiaurc.org.